Recipe: Chinese Borscht

The all-time favorite stew of my family! My mom would prepare a five-gallon pot in the morning, and then leave for work. When we got home from school, it would be ready for our dinner. It would last the whole family several meals, and it’d be good at any time of the day.

Ingredients

• Beef short-ribs (or other beef bones)
  • Optional: Substitute with bouillon cubes
• Vegetables:
  • Carrots
  • Celery
  • Onions
  • Cabbage
  • Corn (canned)
  • Potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Tomato puree
• Mushrooms
• Dark soy
• Optional:
  • Rice or pasta
  • Shrimp paste
  • Tabasco

Instructions

Part 1: Preparation

1. Boil the beef in water for about 5 minutes
2. Drain the water and rinse off the beef
3. Prepare the vegetables:
   1. Chop onions, celery, mushrooms, & cabbage
   2. Peel and chop carrots & potatoes
   3. Open cans of tomato puree & corn

Part 2: Assembly

1. Add oil to pot and turn stove heat to High
2. Sear beef meat and bones on both sides
3. Add the vegetables and a big pinch of salt
4. Cook down the vegetables until soft
5. Add 2 tbsp of dark soy
6. Add water to cover all ingredients
7. Cover and let simmer for 5 hours
8. Taste for seasoning
   1. Add extra salt, dark soy, and shrimp paste to taste
9. Serve with rice or pasta
10. Optional: Eat meat with extra dark soy and Tabasco

Notes
Unlike the Taiwanese Beef Noodle soup, this stew has ingredients all readily available in American grocery stores. This recipe is from Hong Kong, but inspired by borscht from Russian refugees during World War II. In Cantonese the dish is called Luo Song Tang, literally just meaning Russian Soup (in English we then call it the Chinese Russian soup).